State Briefly

Texas Gov. Rick Perry delivers his "State of the State" speech on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005, in Austin, Texas. Gov. Perry called for improving public education and maintaining a prosperous business climate in his speech to the Texas Legislature. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)

AUSTIN - Three children's hospitals and eight charity health care clinics throughout Texas will share in a $4.5 million settlement between the Texas attorney general and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.

The funds must directly benefit indigent patients, according to a news release from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Thursday.

The agreement, intended to help provide needy patients with charitable health services, is the result of a more-than decade long acquisition dispute.

State Capitol getting new routes with security plans

AUSTIN - A new security plan for the Texas Capitol includes different routes for vehicles coming to and from the building and moving a busy bus stop.

Work is under way to relocate the Capitol Metro bus stop from its current site south of the Capitol. No details were offered on the new location for the bus stop, used by many low-income Austin residents.

Gov. Rick Perry, who announced the security changes in a press release, commented on the plan after an unrelated event at the Capitol on Thursday.

Other changes include the addition of retractable bollards at entry and exit points of the Capitol grounds and construction of a gatehouse for Department of Public Safety officials.

Fort Worth police officers fired on merits of cases

FORT WORTH - A police officer accused of spanking a nude, detained woman and another accused of fondling a girl have been fired.

Terminating officers before their trials is unusual, but Fort Worth Police Chief Ralph Mendoza decided to fire officers Craig Murrah and David Babb based on the merits of both cases, said police Lt. Dean Sullivan.

Both officers have appealed their terminations, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in its online edition Thursday.

Babb, 22, who joined the department last year, was indicted in September on a charge of indecency with a child/fondling.

Murrah is accused of spanking a nude woman's buttocks after discovering a couple having sex in a car at a public park June 22.

Couple charged when children tested for drugs

FLORENCE - A Williamson County couple faces child endangerment charges after their three children - ages 1, 2 and 3 - again tested positive for drugs.

Authorities do not know how the children came into contact with methamphetamine, but its traces can be absorbed into a person's body just by being around it, Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said.

Michael Joseph Denson, the children's father, admitted to police before he was arrested Tuesday that he was using meth, according to an arrest affidavit.

Denson, 29, and his wife, Melody Lorraine Whatley, 29, remained in the Williamson County Jail on Thursday, with bail set at $25,000 each.

Briefly ...

 Three San Antonio police officers were arrested, accused of sexually assaulting two women while on duty in separate incidents, authorities said Thursday.

 A small plane crashed and came to rest upside-down in a field northwest of Fort Worth Meachem International Airport. There were no immediate reports of injuries.